“Ludicrous Expansion Idea”

There has been a topic in NCAA hoops that has really been overshadowing the upcoming Final Four all week. This is ridiculous in that the Final Four is what all of the madness has led up to and deserves all the attention in the world. This topic that has been interfering has been the talk of the NCAA expanding the tournament from its current format to 96 teams! Right off the bat I was against this idea. And the more arguments I here that are for it..my opinion still has not budged.

THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA…

Have people lost their minds? Have they not been watching what has gone on over the past couple of weeks. This tournament has captured the American public and is the best sporting spectacle that we have. People skip work on a typical Thursday or spend their work day tuning into these games over the Internet. Millions fill out brackets and enter pools. Even those who have not watched a basketball game all year. You want to know why? People love this tournament. It is set up perfectly and has no need for change.

Think about if it expanded to 96 teams. You really think that Dayton this year, the NIT Champion would have had a shot to make the Final Four? Now Dayton was a very good team and may have won a game or 2 in the NCAA Tourney, but they could not have ever sniffed making it past the 2nd weekend. Now I know some of the big time coaches like Coach K and Jim Boeheim are all for this idea. Well you know what. Let them be for it. Their opinions will not influence mine.

By adding 30 plus teams to the field, you really take away the significance of the regular season and conference tournaments. You make it so teams out of the power conferences that go a game or 2 over 500 will now be considered Bubble Teams. If a team barely goes 500, they should not be sniffing an NCAA Tournament bid. Another fact to think about. Do you really think any of the extra 32 teams will have a prayer at going deep into the tournament. The lowest seed ever to win the NCAA Tourney was the 8th seeded Wildcats out of Villanova in 1985. Villanova was the 32nd ranked team in the country when the season ended. They also played the tournament of their lives and utilized the fact that there was no shot clock. With shot clocks today, it is much harder for far less talented teams to knock off superior squads. Lastly, even though this tournament is set up amazing, there are still plenty of first and second round games where the arenas are half empty. With this expansion, we may be looking at some entirely empty arenas.

Overall I could talk for days on why I think this is a ludicrous idea. But you know what, it doesn’t matter what you or I think. It is just like anything these days. It is all about the money. If there is a way to make extra buck, people will find a way to make it happen.

The NCAA tournament is like a Picasso. It is the best sporting event we have in America. Just let it be.

Why doesn’t the NCAA leave this beautiful piece of art alone and focus its attention on making a playoff in College Football?…